Green & indigenous News

Data collected during a rowing challenge around the seas of Great Britain has found significantly higher concentrations of microplastic pollution than previously recorded, a new report finds. The team, which included University of Surrey academic Hannah Davies, rowed more than 2,000 miles in just 50 days as part of the GB Row Challenge 2024, while also collecting crucial data on microplastic pollution, underwater man-made sound, water temperature, salinity and biodiversity.

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Cornell researchers have uncovered a built-in molecular "gate" that controls the production of the molecule nitric oxide, a crucial signaling molecule throughout biology that in humans helps regulate blood pressure, brain signaling, and immune defenses. But when levels go unchecked, it can damage cells and disrupt normal signaling.

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Several studies have predicted that not all geomagnetic reversals have been discovered, but it was unknown in which periods they might be hidden. Researchers led by the National Institute of Polar Research used a statistical method called adaptive kernel density estimation to model the frequency of geomagnetic reversals at high temporal resolution. Based on the model, they proposed that undiscovered reversals may be hidden in four periods after the Cretaceous Normal Superchron.

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With the current U.S. federal administration abandoning its leadership role in the fight against climate change, international efforts by governments to mitigate global warming appear to have stalled, at least for now. But according to Adelina Barbalau, an expert on climate finance in the Alberta School of Business, hope may lie elsewhere—in the global marketplace and the opportunities for multinational companies to pick up the slack.

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Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN), in collaboration with international partners, have shown that ocean temperature patterns help limit the global spread of droughts. Published in Communications Earth & Environment, the study analyzed climate data from 1901–2020 and found that synchronized droughts affected between 1.8% and 6.5% of global land, far lower than earlier claims that one-sixth of the planet could dry out at once.

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Animals don't just see the world differently from one another, they experience time itself at dramatically different speeds. That is according to a new study that considered 237 species across the animal kingdom, and which revealed that how fast an animal lives and moves strongly predicts how quickly it can visually process the world around it.

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During the past year, the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement attracted positive public and media attention and provoked widespread discussion of the importance of diet to health. As academics who have written about and participated in food-and-diet advocacy for several decades, we have rarely witnessed such spirited public debate about the connections between the well-being of the American population and the system that produces the food we eat.

The food justice movement, which  emerged from the social movements of the 1960s, has long focused on reforming the food system and improving diets. Organizations  such as HEAL Food Alliance, Community Food Advocates, Food Chain Workers Alliance, and the National Black Food and Justice Alliance have fought for broad goals such as building more collective power to improve food policies and systems, changing food and farming practices to reduce pollution and carbon emissions, and making healthier food choices available to people of color. Together with local campaigns, these national organizations have also worked to win more specific changes such as making school lunches healthier and free for all children and increasing job benefits for low-wage food workers.

While the food justice and MAHA movements hold many of the same goals, they differ deeply in other ways. We believe food-justice advocates could benefit from a clearer understanding of where their objectives and approaches overlap but also diverge from those of MAHA, as well as a more defined strategy for how to interact with the movement and decide which MAHA messages to amplify and which to subject to public debate.

“Successful movements build power by winning over new constituencies in working toward common goals; the potential for forging a shared action plan is worth pursuing.”

What do food justice advocates and MAHA supporters have in common? Both believe that the current U.S. food system and the diets it produces contribute to poor health, especially as compared to other countries. Both believe that the profit-seeking and market practices of food and beverage producers, fast food chains, and food marketers actively promote chronic disease, obesity, premature death, and preventable illness.

Both agree that food companies must change their marketing practices, especially to children, and limit chemicals, dyes, and additives in food products. Both also agree that improvements in the rules for school food and federal food assistance programs can lead to improvements in diets and health.

How do the movements differ? Whereas food-justice activists stress the need for collective and public action and make reducing inequities in healthy food access a top priority, MAHA followers emphasize the importance of individual and parental responsibility for diet and health, even for the disadvantaged. While the social justice side views profit-driven markets as a key cause of the nation’s food and health problems, most MAHA leaders (if not its rank-and-filers) endorse market-based solutions to food and health problems.

The two movements also disagree on what constitutes evidence for changing policy. MAHA distrusts established science and often rejects the scientific process that most independent researchers and food justice advocates believe constitutes the basis for policy. By relying on “mom influencers” rather than scientists, MAHA adherents show their belief in the power of narratives of personal experience. And by using  evidence gathered by non-mainstream investigators, they tap into public distrust of established science.

Fifteen years ago, the food writer Michael Pollan wrote that food movements of the day were a “big lumpy tent” in which the various factions beneath it sometimes worked at cross-purposes. We recognize that this remains true for the food justice movement. It is also true for the MAHA movement.

Today’s MAHA movement includes activist parents fighting to improve school food and get rid of pesticides, wellness industry influencers and entrepreneurs like Calley and Casey Means, anti-vaxxers, and, of course, President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Its contributors include major corporations and right-wing leaders.

In 2024, the  largest contributor to the group’s super-PAC, the MAHA Alliance,  was Elon Musk and his SpaceX, together contributing $6 million—and this year the MAHA Center, headed by Tony Lyons, a major financial supporter of RFK Jr.’s presidential campaign, funded the controversial  Mike Tyson “Eat Real Food” Super Bowl ad for a reported $8 million. Whether the private interests of wellness entrepreneurs like the Means, and billionaires like Musk, will take precedence over the MAHA mom influencers remains to be seen.

This heterogeneity poses both an opportunity and a challenge to those seeking alliances, raising the question: Is it possible to build on commonalities given the deep differences and this era’s sectarianism and polarization? We believe the food justice movement should pursue this chance for new partnerships, despite the risks in this path. Successful movements build power by winning over new constituencies in working toward common goals; the potential for forging a shared action plan is worth pursuing. To do so, we suggest six actions for food-justice advocates.

1. Talk to MAHA activists. The groups should create forums and spaces where they can discuss commonalities and differences openly without insulting or disrespecting those who differ. Open discussion is a prerequisite for exploring the possibility of shared goals.

2. Argue with respect. We acknowledge the risks of attempting to work with and win over MAHA supporters. In some cases, we will have to agree to disagree. In others, we will forcefully debate in public settings. In all situations, we must not lose sight of common goals or conflicting values.  By listening carefully to MAHA arguments, food justice proponents can better understand its supporters’ worldviews and engage them in finding opportunities for joint action.

3. Develop a common agenda of legal and regulatory reforms. The two movements’ shared distrust of corporations—and the legal and political systems in which Big Business exerts undue influence—present important opportunities for winning public support. Can the two groups establish clear goals for legal and regulatory reforms in food, agriculture, pesticides, and other industries? These could include strategies to reduce the conflicts of interest that enable corporations to profit from public harm and promote new evidence-based and public-serving transparency rules for businesses, universities, and government. One example—agreeing that government has the right to set policies to keep toxic substances out of our food supply and the duty to enforce these policies—would be a big step forward.

4. Provide a clear rationale for a focus on food equity. A food system that offers healthy food to the well-off but not others can never make America healthier. To enlist MAHA followers in making the entire food system more equitable will require winning their support for reducing current socioeconomic, racial/ethnic, and gender inequities in access to healthy food and other basic human needs. It will require proposing they consider the “sum of us” argument that, for example, stronger food regulations and healthier supermarket food benefits all of us, not just the most disadvantaged.

5. Encourage MAHA followers to question the moral commitments and policies of MAGA and its leaders. The cruelty, corruption, disregard for science, and disdain for democracy that characterize MAGA leaders (but not necessarily MAHA followers) dismay Americans of varied political beliefs.

Last week, President Trump issued an executive order promoting production of glyphosate (Roundup), the widely used herbicide, claiming the weedkiller was needed to protect national economic and food security. Signaling the fragility of the MAHA/MAGA alliance, Vani Hari, an influential MAHA grassroots leader, told The Guardian, “This executive order reads like it was drafted in a chemical company boardroom. Calling it ‘national defense’ while expanding protections for toxic products is a dangerous misdirection. Real national security is protecting American families, farmers, and children.”

MAHA followers could also examine the conflicts of interests of their own wellness-industry aligned leaders. A MAHA/MAGA alliance is not inevitable. By finding specific and appealing ways to win over MAHA followers who genuinely want a healthier nation and food system, the food justice movement may help to build the political power needed for transformative changes.

6. Study successful MAHA initiatives. MAHA’s use of personal stories and narratives, its capture of public attention, its acceptance of internal differences in opinion, and its successes in rural communities are accomplishments worth emulating. MAHA has been strikingly effective in bringing public attention to our nation’s food system and food policies. Finding ways to capture the bully pulpit of public attention without ceding to the pulpits of bullies could provide lessons for other current political struggles. The food justice movement can extract relevant lessons from these experiences.

In our view, the prospect of a cross-cutting food justice movement that brings in new supporters and builds political power to win new measures to improve diets, food systems, and health is a risk worth exploring. At best, the food justice movement might open new doors for alliances between MAHA followers and activists in movements for environmental justice, women’s health, or universal health care.

Given the different worldviews of MAHA and food justice advocates, we are under no illusion that this process will inevitably or easily lead to meaningful changes in diet, food policy, or health. But we do believe that silence due to fear of criticism or conflict wins nothing. With eyes wide open, we invite others to join in the exploration of new principled alliances.

The post Op-ed: Can the Food Justice Movement and MAHA Find Common Ground? appeared first on Civil Eats.

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The progressive rise in temperatures poses a growing threat to the staging of summer sporting events in Europe and, more specifically, to the Tour de France, due to the increasing risk of heat stress for athletes. This is one of the conclusions of a study published in Scientific Reports, which analyzed climate data associated with more than 50 editions of the French race.

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Pauly Denetclaw
ICT

It’s one year into President Donald J. Trump’s second term. The year has been mired in political upheaval, and legal battles. Trump has pushed his “America First” agenda forward with a slew of executive orders, and pushed the legal boundaries of executive power.

“I know President Trump is fired up to speak to the American people,” Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin, Cherokee, said in a statement to ICT. “I expect the president will lay out how he’s delivered on the promises he made on the campaign trail and outline his plan for the rest of 2026. President Trump has been laser focused on the economy and moving us in the direction: from bringing in new investments and tackling energy prices to making goods more affordable and lowering interest rates.”

During Trump’s first State of the Union address as the 47th president, he is likely to defend his last year of leadership, highlight the wins, and set his agenda for the coming year. This is America’s 250th year of existence, and the midterm elections, which historically has seen the president’s party lose majority in Congress.

It is likely that the Native American Republican members of Congress, Sen. Mullin, Oklahoma Reps. Tom Cole, Chickasaw, and Josh Brecheen, Choctaw, will be in attendance. Only Sen. Mullin confirmed his attendance. Requests for comments to Cole, and Brecheen’s offices, respectively, went unanswered by the time this story was published.

Sen Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla, appears at a campaign event in support of Republican president nominee former President Donad Trump, Friday, Oct. 18, 2024, in Red Springs, N.C. (AP Photo/David Yeazell)

A small minority of Democrats are boycotting the State of the Union Address.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, Ho-Chunk, confirmed on social media that she will be in attendance. She is bringing Nick Levendofsky, who is executive director of the Kansas Farmers Union, that works to protect and enhance the interests of family farms and ranches in Kansas.

One must be invited by the president, first lady, speaker of the House or a member of Congress to attend the State of the Union address. Each member of Congress can bring one guest. Guests often represent an issue that politicians want to highlight. Other times, a family member or significant other is invited to attend.

For example, during the 2023 address, then President Joe Biden invited Lynette Bonar, Navajo, a pioneer in cancer care for Indigenous communities. During his speech, Biden highlighted his commitment to reducing cancer rates.

Davids is running for reelection in Kansas. On her campaign website, she has agriculture as one of her priorities. She has committed to supporting farmers and ranchers to ensure they are successful for generations to come.

“He’s a strong voice for Kansas producers and will also be in D.C. next week for the key Farm Bill hearing,” Davids said in a social media post of Levendofsky.

A request for comment to Davids’ office went unanswered.

Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kan., talks to supporters during a watch party Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022, in Overland Park, Kan. Davids is trying to retain her seat in Kansas’ 3rd Congressional District. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)

Across the nation, Indigenous people feared being detained by ICE, and many tribal nations responded by encouraging their citizens to carry their tribal IDs.

“President Trump is proud of his record of delivering the most secure border in American history, deporting violent criminals, and supporting law enforcement to bring down crime rates,” Mullin, who represents Oklahoma, said.

Tribal programs that rely on federal grants worry about future funding, and what would happen without those grants. Some elected tribal officials are afraid of speaking out about the Trump administration for fear of retaliation. With federal cuts being proposed, many worry about the future of Indian Health Services, Bureau of Indian Education, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Trump did select Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the Secretary for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Kennedy and his late father, Robert F. Kennedy Sr. have been outspoken supporters of Native nations.

Last year, Kennedy halted the mass layoff of IHS employees.

“There’s no doubt [President Trump has] been a fighter for tribal self-determination and sovereignty — recently signing The Lumbee Fairness Act into law, which granted full recognition for the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina,” Mullin said. “On the world stage, he wants to keep putting America First and stop foreign conflicts as a matter of national security. I’m sure it’ll be a speech full of victories, with a hopeful and patriotic vision for the next three years. I look forward to attending tonight’s historic event with my wife, Christie.”

Last December, Trump signed the Lumbee Fairness Act, which affirmed the Lumbee Tribe’s status as a federally-recognized tribe, delivering on a promise he made during his first presidential term. Former Presidents Barack Obama and Joseph R. Biden had also committed to recognizing the Lumbee Tribe but it never came to fruition under their respective administrations.

Trump is delivering the speech, but his audience sitting in the House chamber has a big role, too. When Trump delivered his 2020 State of the Union, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi theatrically ripped up a copy of the speech afterward, overshadowing much of what Trump said.

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York has said in a letter to colleagues “it is important to have a strong, determined and dignified Democratic presence in the chamber,” indicating some members might choose not to attend in protest to Trump. But there’s also the possibility of Democrats razzing Trump as Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, did in 2025, leading him to be removed from the chamber.

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger will deliver the Democratic response to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address next week, just months after resoundingly winning an office previously held by a Republican.

Spanberger, who served three terms in the U.S. House, became Virginia’s first female governor earlier this year. She won by a double-digit margin, campaigning on affordability and lowering costs for families — a message Democrats are now elevating as they seek to win back the House and Senate in this year’s midterm elections.

The annual address is mandated by the U.S. Constitution though it can take many forms, some presidents have done written reports but most commonly a speech. By invitation from the House Speaker, a president is invited to address Congress in the People’s House. It’s one of the few times that both chambers of Congress convene together.

Leaders from all three branches of government are present — congressional members, Supreme Court justices, cabinet members and the president are all in one place. One cabinet member will not be in attendance and is the designated survivor.

The State of the Union address will be Tuesday, February 24 at 9 p.m. EST.

C-SPAN will livestream the speech on YouTube.

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The post Davids, Mullin to attend State of the Union address appeared first on ICT.

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The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments today about a narrow procedural issue that could determine whether Michigan or federal courts ultimately decide the fate of a 73-year-old oil pipeline that many tribal nations say threatens their waters, treaty rights, and ways of life.

The case, Enbridge v. Nessel, centers on Line 5, a 645-mile oil pipeline that starts in Superior, Wisconsin, snakes through Michigan, and concludes in Ontario, Canada. More than half a million barrels of oil and natural gas flow through it daily. The pipeline has leaked more than 30 times inland, spilling over a million gallons of oil collectively. All 12 federally recognized tribes in Michigan have called for it to be shut down.

The Straits of Mackinac, where the pipeline crosses between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, are ecologically sensitive and sacred to the Ashininaabe peoples as the waters are the center of their creation story. Five tribal nations also hold treaty rights to fish and hunt in these waters, rights that predate Michigan’s statehood and are protected by federal law.

But tribes are not parties in this particular case, which started in 2019, when Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel sued to shut down the pipeline.

“What’s at stake on Tuesday is the authority for the state of Michigan to manage state resources and public trust matters like the lakebed,” said David Gover, Pawnee and Choctaw managing attorney at the Native American Rights Fund, which along with Earthjustice represents the Bay Mills Indian Community in its advocacy against Line 5. “It’s state sovereignty and what is the state’s ability to manage and protect their resources.”

The specific question before the court is narrow but consequential: Was a lower court right to allow Enbridge to move the case from Michigan state court to federal court more than two years after the typical 30-day deadline for such a request had passed? A year after Nessel sued, the state formally revoked the pipeline’s approval to operate, citing fishing and hunting rights and the 1836 Treaty of Washington, and warning that an oil spill in the Straits “would have severe, adverse impacts for tribal communities.”

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer sued Enbridge to enforce the revocation, but chose to drop her suit in 2021 to support the attorney general’s case in state court. A federal court then allowed Enbridge to move the state case to federal court, citing “exceptional circumstances.” Now, the Supreme Court must decide whether that was appropriate.

“Indian law cases often turn on gateway doctrines like standing, jurisdiction, and removal before courts ever reach treaty interpretation,” said Wenona Singel, citizen of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, and director of the Indigenous Law & Policy Center at Michigan State University’s College of Law. “Those procedural rulings can quietly shape outcomes. … When infrastructure operates in waters protected by treaty rights, litigation delay has environmental and cultural consequences. A procedural extension can mean years before a court reaches the underlying substance of the case.”

Debbie Chizewer, managing attorney at the environmental nonprofit Earthjustice, said an estimated 40 million people rely on the Great Lakes for freshwater and could be harmed by an oil spill. The Great Lakes hold a fifth of all the surface freshwater on Earth. “This case is really about Michigan’s ability to protect the Great Lakes from an outdated Canadian oil pipeline that’s threatening to rupture,” she said.

Enbridge argues that concerns about pollution in the Great Lakes are overblown, noting that Line 5 continues to pass safety inspections and federal regulators have not identified any safety issues with its continued operation. The company also emphasizes that shutting down the pipeline would affect energy and foreign affairs: Line 5 supplies half the oil that Ontario and Quebec rely on, and the Canadian government opposes its closure. “The Supreme Court’s review will provide needed clarity,” an Enbridge spokesperson said.

Tuesday’s arguments are only one part of a sprawling legal and regulatory battle over Line 5. Enbridge has a separate federal lawsuit against Michigan Governor Whitmer arguing that the governor doesn’t have the right to shut down the pipeline. In March, the Michigan State Supreme Court will consider a lawsuit from several tribes and environmental groups who want to overturn a state permit to allow Enbridge to build a new tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac. Federal and state agencies are currently mulling over additional permits for the same rerouting project.

And last week, the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa asked a Wisconsin state court to review yet another permit allowing Enbridge to reroute Line 5 through their watershed.

“The Band River watershed is not an oil pipeline corridor that exists to serve Enbridge’s profits,” said Bad River Band Chairwoman Elizabeth Arbuckle. “It is our homeland. We must protect it.”

Wenona Singel, from Michigan State University, said while the case before the U.S. Supreme Court won’t redefine treaty rights, it still matters to Indian Country.

“It may influence how easily powerful defendants can change courts in litigation,” she said, “and how long communities must wait for judicial resolution.”

This story was originally published by Grist with the headline The Supreme Court hears a Line 5 oil pipeline case with high stakes for treaty rights on Feb 24, 2026.

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The nor'easter smacking much of the Northeast with nearly 3 feet of snow in places is as classic and powerful a blizzard as you can get, the strongest in a decade and up there with the most intense in history, meteorologists said.

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The Native American Agriculture Fund mourns the loss of our respected trustee, Michelle Fox, who passed away this weekend. Her absence is deeply felt within our board and throughout Indian Country.

She was an enrolled member of the Aaniiih (Gros Ventre) Tribe of the Fort Belknap Indian Community and a Descendant of the Amskapi Pikuni (Blackfeet Nation), Nakoda (Assiniboine), Cheyenne River Sioux, Crow, and Little Shell Tribes. As a fifth-generation cattle rancher, she drew on her deep connection to culture and land to guide her work and enrich NAAF’s mission.

Her love for her family was the most radiant part of her life. She was a devoted mother whose pride and joy were her children. The reach of her love was wide, and the impact of her life was greater still—touching family, friends, and colleagues in ways words cannot express.

“Michelle was the essence of the strength and resiliency of Native women. Her grit, vibrancy, infectious laughter, and optimism lifted all those around her. She was a force for good, and her legacy and leadership reflected her deep commitment to our communities. She will live on in the countless lives she touched,” said NAAF Board Chair Stacy Leeds.

“Michelle was not only a respected colleague but a dear friend. She carried her family’s legacy with pride and purpose and brought a bold, principled voice to her service on the NAAF Board, holding our work firmly accountable to the original claimants. She understood that this work is generational and led with strength and conviction every day. Her counsel and unwavering commitment will be deeply missed. I will remember her boldness, her strength, and the clarity of her voice,” said NAAF CEO Toni Stanger-McLaughlin.

Michelle’s passing is a tremendous loss for her family, the Tribal law community, and all of us at the Native American Agriculture Fund. We extend our deepest sympathies to her loved ones.

We honor her legacy by continuing her work and holding her family in our thoughts.

The post Statement from the Native American Agriculture Fund on the Passing of Michelle Fox appeared first on ICT.

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Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company is continuing to fuel its data centers with unpermitted gas turbines, according to a Floodlight visual investigation. Thermal drone footage shows xAI is still burning gas at a facility in Southaven, Mississippi, despite a recent Environmental Protection Agency ruling reiterating that doing so requires a state permit in advance.

State regulators in Mississippi maintain that since the turbines are parked on tractor trailers, they don’t require permits. However, the EPA has long required that such pollution sources be permitted under the Clean Air Act.

Any exemption for these machines “could leave these engines subject to no emission standards at all,” the agency wrote in a January final ruling.

However, thermal images captured by Floodlight — and analyzed by multiple experts — show more than a dozen unpermitted turbines still spewing pollutants at the plant nearly two weeks after the EPA’s recent ruling.

“That is a violation of the law,” said Bruce Buckheit, a former EPA air enforcement chief, after reviewing Floodlight’s images and EPA regulations.

Thermal drone footage shows unpermitted turbines operating at xAI’s gas plant in Southaven, Mississippi, nearly two weeks after the EPA ruled such turbines require permits before they can run. (Evan Simon / Floodlight)

xAI, which is seeking permits for dozens more turbines in Southaven, did not respond to multiple requests for comment. The EPA, which under Trump has initiated a record low number of enforcement actions, declined to answer questions about the turbines at Musk’s AI facilities and referred to local authorities on permits.

The first and only public hearing on the matter is scheduled for February 17, and the public comment period is still open.

The Trump administration has made AI a priority, but as data centers proliferate across the country, regulators are struggling to keep pace with the industry’s increasing reliance on custom-built power sources and their public health impacts on surrounding communities. And Southaven, where state regulators are at odds with federal guidance, is a prime example.

xAI parked 27 unpermitted turbines in the suburban city of Southaven, Mississippi, to power the company’s nearby data center. Evan Simon / Floodlight

The turbines there help power Grok, the company’s controversial chatbot, and emit harmful pollutants linked to health problems such as asthma, lung cancer, and heart attacks.

“The risk of living next to this type of power plant is well documented,” said Shaolei Ren, a University of California, Riverside associate professor who specializes in the health impacts of data centers. “From the health perspective, we know that this is not good.”

Southaven residents have voiced concerns for months over the noise and pollution emanating from the 114-acre site that is largely hidden from public view — a site xAI is looking to expand.

“For them to be releasing so much pollution in such a populated area, not to mention that there are at least ten schools within a two-mile radius of the facility, is really concerning,” said longtime resident Shannon Samsa. “It’s horrifying to me that we’re allowing this in our community.”

From Memphis to Mississippi

The Southaven turbine cluster is part of xAi’s rapidly growing footprint along the Tennessee-Mississippi border. That expansion began in the spring of 2024 in South Memphis, next to historically Black neighborhoods, with the construction of Colossus 1, which the company touted as the world’s largest AI supercomputer.

The Southern Environmental Law Center released thermal images in April revealing that xAi had been operating more than 30 unpermitted gas-powered turbines at that site.

“We were hopeful that the health department would step in,” said Patrick Anderson, a senior attorney at the SELC. “That never happened.”

County officials in Tennessee maintained the turbines did not require a permit despite longstanding EPA policy that they do. In July, amid local pushback, the county permitted 15 turbines for use at Colossus 1.

On January 15, the EPA reiterated its decades-old policy that such machines need a permit. By then, xAi had already built a second data center in the area, Colossus 2. To power it, the company parked 27 turbines just across the stateline in Southaven, Mississippi, a diverse suburb of Memphis with higher-than-average levels of air pollution.

“When you’re talking about these turbines, think of the jet engine,” said Buckheit.

Thermal drone imagery captured by Floodlight in late January shows some of the 15 permitted turbines operating at xAI’s Colossus 1. Evan Simon / Floodlight

Despite the EPA’s recent directive, Floodlight’s thermal imagery — analyzed by multiple experts — shows 15 unpermitted turbines in operation at Southaven. Public records obtained by Floodlight show 18 of the 27 turbines have been used since November, at least.

“One might easily have expected, since this has been going on for some months, at least [issue a] stop work order,” said Buckheit, who served during the Republican administrations of Gerald Ford and George W. Bush. He also said the EPA could refer the case to the Department of Justice.

“But apparently that didn’t happen.”

xAI’s gas plant in Southaven, Mississippi, has been operating unpermitted turbines since at least November to power the company’s nearby datacenter, according to documents obtained by Floodlight. Evan Simon / Floodlight

Playing by a different set of rules

An EPA spokesperson did not answer Floodlight’s questions relating to its enforcement options, instead saying, “EPA does not approve the operation of gas turbines at facilities, that would be the state or local air permitting authority.”

Air permits are traditionally handled by state agencies. However, according to its own website, the EPA is responsible for making sure these agencies comply with federal regulations and “generally will take enforcement action” if a state government fails to “take timely and appropriate action.”

xAI “violated the Clean Air Act the first time, and now they’re gonna copy and paste and do it again,” said Anderson. “I maybe had some naive hope that the regulators who are most in the day-to-day business of implementing the Clean Air Act in Mississippi would do the right thing.”

In response to Floodlight’s questions, a spokesperson from the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality said the EPA’s recent rule leaves permitting decisions to state authorities.

“The turbines currently operating at the Southaven facility are classified as portable/mobile units under state law and therefore remain exempt from air permitting requirements during this temporary period,” they said. “Nothing in the EPA’s January 15 rule altered that determination under Mississippi regulations.”

An asthmatic, Krystal Polk said she was forced to empty out the home that’s been in her family for generations and cancel her plans to retire there out of concerns for her health after xAI began operating gas powered turbines directly across the street from her property. Evan Simon / Floodight

Longtime resident Krystal Polk said she had no idea xAI was coming to Southaven until black fences were set up across the street from her house. The area, she said, was once quiet and serene, with an abundance of wildlife, but is now bombarded by ceaseless noise and pollution.

“I do feel like xAi is playing by a different set of rules,” she said.

An asthmatic, Polk said she was forced to empty out the home that’s been in her family for generations and cancel her plans to retire there out of concerns for her health.

“We are a casualty of the whole data center race,” she said. “I feel that my voice doesn’t matter.”

The spokesperson for the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality said the agency takes public concern around emissions, noise, and overall quality of life seriously, and though the turbines — in their view — do not require permits, all “applicable air quality standards still apply.”

Krystal Polk’s family home (foreground) sits directly across the street from xAI’s gas plant in Southaven, Mississippi. Evan Simon / Floodlight

AI’s increasing thirst for fossil fuels

Despite lofty sustainability goals put forward by industry leaders, data centers across the country are increasingly turning to fossil fuels to power the AI boom by using custom-built power plants like the ones seen in Southaven.

Roughly 75 percent of this power comes from natural gas, according to a recent report by CleanView, which tracks clean energy and data center projects.

“Nearly every project we reviewed mentions renewables, hydrogen, or nuclear in its public announcements,” the author wrote, but renewables aren’t scheduled until 2028 or later.

And “nuclear is a decade away,” he said.

Now, xAI is seeking to expand in Southaven, applying in January for a permit to operate 41 turbines at the site.

The facility could emit more than 6 million tons of greenhouse gases and over 1,300 tons of health-harming air pollutants every year, according to xAI’s permit application. That would make it among the largest fossil fuel power plants in the state. The company also purchased property in Southaven for a third data center that, when completed, will make the Colossus cluster — spanning Memphis to Southaven — one of the largest data center complexes in the world.

Shannon Samsa, a physician’s assistant, had hoped to raise a family in Southaven, but the presence of xAi’s gas-powered turbines has made her and her husband reconsider. Evan Simon / Floodlight

“It would be devastating,” said Samsa, the Southaven resident. “No community in their right mind would want something like this in their backyards.”

Samsa, a physician’s assistant, had hoped to raise a family in Southaven, but the presence of xAi’s gas-powered turbines has made her and her husband reconsider. She has helped collect more than 1,000 signatures for a petition demanding Mississippi authorities shut down the plant.

“I don’t want my children to be growing up around such massive amounts of air pollution,” she said. “I don’t want them to have to live in a place where their health and their overall well-being are not considered over economics.”

This story was originally published by Grist with the headline ‘A different set of rules’: Thermal drone footage shows Musk’s AI power plant flouting clean air regulations on Feb 21, 2026.

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Imagine trying to design a key for a lock that is constantly changing its shape. That is the exact challenge we face in modern drug discovery when dealing with intrinsically disordered proteins.

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The extraction of gas and oil by fracking—large-scale fracturing of underground rocks by injecting water, sand and additives—is generating growing concern in Argentine Patagonia. Neuquén province—home to the country's largest hydrocarbon reserves—has experienced an increase in earthquakes since fracking operations began there in 2015.

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Adelaide University researchers have shown that pairing sniffer dogs with a simple air-sampling device could dramatically improve the detection of illegally trafficked wildlife hidden inside shipping containers.

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A horse's whinny is an unusually distinctive mix of sounds including both high and low frequencies. Reporting in Current Biology, researchers demonstrate how horses produce high-frequency sounds that defy their large size while simultaneously producing lower tones: they whistle through their larynx while vibrating their vocal folds as a human does while singing. Horses likely evolved these vocalizations to be able to convey multiple messages to one another at the same time, says the team.

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Can students be on the front lines of conservation? A new Canada-wide study, published in Metabarcoding and Metagenomics, suggests they can. The efforts of some 5,000 students produced data detailed enough to reveal complex ecological networks hidden inside a small PVC and cardboard tube home.

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New research from Monash University, in collaboration with Phillip Island Nature Parks, has found conclusive evidence that rivers are vital drivers of food and habitat for seabirds around the world. The research, published in Biological Reviews, examined 51 scientific studies that looked at how river water flowing into the sea affects seabird behavior, diet, health and population trends. The results revealed that nearly nine out of 10 studies reported a clear link between river-influenced ocean environments and seabird ecology, from where birds feed to how healthy they are and how successfully they breed.

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Bats are some of the most highly specialized mammals to have ever evolved. This includes not only the evolution of active flight, but also their echolocation. This ability requires the bats to produce high frequency noises and then receive the sound back and interpret it to allow the animals to build up a detailed picture of the world through sound.

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The Kimberley region in the northwest corner of Western Australia is full of rugged ranges and gorges, and long stretches of red soil and rocky ground. The dry seasons are long, and the wet seasons often flood the Martuwarra Fitzroy River—an artery to the Indian Ocean—in the region's south.

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Just like a human newborn, coral larvae need just the right environment to settle and begin their new life. Understanding the ideal surface geometry for coral settlement and early growth was the shared goal of a new research project led by Griffith University with the support of Monsoon Aquatics.

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A study by Dr. Gianpiero Fiorentino and his colleagues, published in the Journal of Paleontology, describes the identification of a new species of ant, Hypoponera electrocacica, belonging to the genus Hypoponera and representing the first occurrence of this genus in the fossil record of the Western Hemisphere, confirming the long-suspected presence of the genus in the Caribbean Miocene.

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UConn Center on Aging researchers have published a new editorial in the journal Aging titled "Polyploidy-induced senescence: Linking development, differentiation, repair, and (possibly) cancer?" In this editorial, Dr. Iman M. Al-Naggar, assistant professor of cell biology at UConn School of Medicine along with Dr. George A. Kuchel, director of the UConn Center on Aging, examines the biological and clinical significance of polyploidy-induced senescence.

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Unseen but all around us, the air we breathe in enclosed spaces is crucial to our health and well-being. Indoor air is not simply outdoor air that has been run through a filter: it has its own chemical makeup and a unique combination of particles, gases and microorganisms. Because indoor air has many sources of its own, concentrations of many pollutants can be as high as—or higher than—outdoor levels, especially during everyday activities like cooking or cleaning.

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